Spoon dispenser



Feb.` -l, 1944.

R. H. RENl-Ro SPOON DISPENSER Filed Aug. 27. 1941 4 I l A. A //4 `By All ne ary Patented Feb. 1, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August 2.7, 1941, Serial No. 408,507

1 Claim. '('CL S12-42) This invention relates to dispensing devices, and an object of the invention is to provide a device particularly designed for dispensing spoons and more particularly for dispensing nat wooden spoons of the type used for eating ice cream and as are generally supplied customers when purchasing ice cream in cups, or in small quantities to be eaten on the premises.

The invention together with its objects and advantages will be best understood from a study of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a spoon dispenser embodying the features of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fi-gure 1.

Referring more in detail to the drawing it will be seen that in the preferred embodiment thereof my spoon dispenser comprises a casing embodying vertical side walls 5, vertical end walls 6, the side walls 5, 1 being composed of vertical panels 1'-I that extend inwardly from the end walls 6 and at their inner longitudinal edges terminate in spaced parallelism to provide therebetween vertical side slots 8 through which access may be had to the interior dispenser.

A central wall or panel I8 extends vertically through the center of the device and forms together with the side walls 5, l, end walls 6, and bottom wall I0, two compartments I'I' in the device, each of which is adapted to receive a stack of spoons 9 arranged with the handles extending across the slot 8.

The side walls and I at their lower edges terminate slightly upwardly from the side edges ofthe raised bottom wall I0.

In substantial alignment with the slots 8 the bottom wall I0 is provided with slots II so that the vfore-linger may be inserted into the dispenser to engage the underside of the handle of the lowermost spoon 9 to facilitate sliding said spoon outwardly of the dispenser through the horizontal slot I2 provided by the spacing of the lower edges of the side wall panels 'I' above the side edges of the bottom wall I0.

Further to facilitate the removal of a spoon from the dispenser, the side edges of the bottom wall I0 are curved downwardly and outwardly as at I3.

At the bottom of the dispenser the end walls 6 thereof are extended outwardly beyond the side wall panels 1' as at I4, with the extended portions Il of the walls 6 being tapered as shown so as to in no wise interfere with removal of a spoon from the dispenser, and yet at the same time provide ample wall structure as will serve to support the dispenser in an upright position on a table, counter, tray, or other similar surface.

The receptacle part of the dispenser may be readily charged by inserting stacks of spoons 9 downwardly through the top of the receptacle.

In connection with the above it will be'noted that the top of the receptacle is provided with a removable lid I5 that telescopically nts on the cabinet part of the dispenser as shown.

In actual practice the dispenser may be formed from a single blank of metalv or other suitable material.

Also in order to maintain the'stack of spoons 9 in neatly stacked condition within the dispenser there is provided in one corner of each compartment I1' a vertical ller or spacer element 20 as shown to advantage in Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 2 the handle portions of the spoons 9 are accommodated between the filler or spacer 20 and the adjacent side walls panel 1', while the ladle portions of the spoons nt neatly in the space between the other adjacent side wall panel 'I' and the central panel I8.

Also, the slots 8, II formed in the side and bottom walls of the chambers or compartments are closer to one end of the chamber than the other end and the ller members 20 are placed in those portions of the chambers or compartments between the slots and the nearest end wall of the device. Thus the spoons in one compartment may be reversely arranged from those in the other compartment so that having the slots arranged as shown in Figure 2 a customer may grasp a spoon from either stack by the handle of the spoon and not the bowl so that this arrangement provides for sanitation.

It is believed that the many advantages of a dispenser embodying the features of the present invention will be understood by those skilled in the art without further detailed description.

It is also to be understood that, as above suggested, changes may be resorted in actual practice without departing from the spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A dispenser for articles having handles comprising a casing, a partition in the casing dividing the same into a pair of vertically arranged chambers for receiving a vertical row of the articles, vertically arranged members in the chambers adjacent one end thereof for engaging the handles of the articles, said casing including a bottom Y forming portion which forms a bottom for both chambers with the outer edges of the bottom forming parts spaced from the outer Walls of the casing for providing a space through which the bottom article of a pile of articles can be removed and said bottom wall and the outer Walls having slots therein for exposing portions of the articles and enabling one to grip the articles, said slots being placed closer to one end than the other to enable the user to grasp the handle part of the article, the articles being reversely arranged in the two chambers and the said vertically extending members in said ends of the chambers holding the handle part against the outer Walls of the casing.

RANDOLPH HOWARD RENFRO. 

